Support pad

ABSTRACT

A sitting, sleeping or support pad ( 1 ), which on account of its special design can be used in a number of different areas of application, includes an inner bag with a fill material, disposed in an outer bag. The inner bag has an elongated, substantially rectangular shape and the outer bag consists of first and second sides ( 2, 3 ), with a I substantially similar shape to the inner bag, where between the outer bag&#39;s first and second sides ( 2, 3 ), at least in a part of the bag&#39;s length against one of the short sides of the outer bag, there is provided an intermediate piece ( 6 ) and an end portion ( 4 ) is formed on at least one short side. The end portion ( 4 ) is enlarged and provides the opportunity for the pad to be placed on the short side, as well as for all or most of the fill material to be collected in a part of the inner bag, thereby to provide co-operation between inner bag and outer bag to achieve a sitting position where the user is raised above ground level.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a sitting, sleeping or support padwhich, on account of its special design, has a number of different areasof application and which can be easily adapted to different users andsituations. A preferred embodiment of the invention is particularlysuitable for use in a maritime environment.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a number of leisure situations there is a need for a pad on which auser can sit, recline or be supported. However, the requirements oftenchange according to the various leisure activities involved andtherefore different objects have traditionally been employed as pads. Acushion or sheet can be employed as a sitting pad during a trip in thecountry or in different situations such as on board a boat. The commonrequirement for sitting pads is that they should provide a soft sittingsurface which counteracts any rough ground, in addition to which theyshould provide insulation, thus giving the user a comfortable seatwithout the discomfort, e.g., of sitting on a cold or damp surface. Insome situations, moreover, it is also desirable to adjust the thicknessof the sitting pad, thereby enabling the user to adjust the height to adesired height above ground level. The need may also arise to alter thesitting position after a time, particularly where there is nopossibility of obtaining back support. There may also be a need toimprove the user's view, for example in a boat where, depending on theboat's design, a user often wishes to sit at a distance above the deckor thwart in order to be guaranteed a good view ahead and to the sideswhen the boat is underway.

To some extent, the same functions are covered by a sleeping pad withregard to comfort and insulation. A sleeping pad should be capable in asimple manner of giving the user a level, soft surface which counteractsthe roughness of the ground in addition to providing insulation if theground is damp or cold. Should the user also wish a special recliningposition, for example, with the upper part of his body slightly angledrelative to his legs, the sleeping pad should be capable of beingadapted to conform to the user's reclining position, thereby providing acomfortable reclining position and insulation in any position. Inaddition, a good sleeping pad will adapt to the user's anatomy,conforming to some extent to the user's sleeping surface. A sleeping padshould be easily accessible, i.e., it should be light in weight, thusenabling it to be easily transported by a user, and should be easy tostow away during the periods when it is not in use.

In addition, there is often a need for a support pad, e.g. such as aback support, neck support, or a support for individual parts of thebody, in order to provide a better sitting or reclining position or torelieve the pressure on the body in certain situations, such as whenrecovering after an injury or the like. For a leisure user a number ofareas of application may be mentioned in this connection, for example,as a back support during hunting or when out in the woods and fields, asa support during sailing, or simply as a support for back seatpassengers who wish to rest in a car.

The use is known in the prior art of various forms of cushions, ormattresses of different thickness and shape to cover the above-mentionedrequirements. Such cushions and/or mattresses may be made of a foammaterial or may consist of a cover filled with a fill material. As asitting pad a flat cushion is usually chosen with the thickness requiredto cover the requirements for comfort and insulation, and as a sleepingpad the requirements for ease of transport, size and weight will also becrucial. A sleeping pad for use on a beach, skerries or the like willhave to be easy to transport, light in weight and of a size whichenables it to be carried without too much trouble. It will also benecessary to have a kind of support arrangement or the like on sleepingpads of this type. The most common articles for support in varioussituations are also cushions of different shapes, and for this purposespecially sewn cushions with a specific shape are used, or a cushionwith a fill may be adapted to the individual need. It is natural todistinguish between a cushion with a fixed shape which has littleability to be adapted to different requirements, and a cushion whoseshape can easily be altered, thereby allowing it to be adapted toseveral areas of application.

One kind of sitting or sleeping pad, and to some extent support pad,which differs from ordinary types of cushion and mattress is a sack witha fill material which, on account of its degree of fill and its shapepermits the user to form it according to his own wishes andrequirements. Sacks of this kind are often referred to in the trade as“saccosacks”, and can be adapted to a variety of sitting and recliningpositions. The disadvantage of the saccosack, however, is that it isunstable with regard to shape and there is therefore little possibilityof the user giving it a shape and there is little possibility of theuser giving it a shape which is substantially different from that givenby the sack's external features and the dimensions thereof. For example,it will not be possible to pack the contents of a traditional saccosacktogether in order to achieve a sitting position which is substantiallyhigher than ground level, and then to change the shape to, e.g., asleeping pad which is substantially flat. Such a bag therefore providesa very limited choice of sitting and reclining positions.

Other examples of the prior art which partially fulfill the samefunctions are mentioned in Norwegian patent NO 168866, where a mattressis disclosed consisting of two outer layers of cotton, under which thereare placed two layers of foamed plastic and where these four layers withseams are sewn together to form cavities or channels which are filledwith particles of synthetic material. Such a mattress providesventilation which can remove moisture and keep the body warm by means ofinsulation while the mattress can also be used amongst other things toprevent bed sores and the like. Another known solution related to thisis described in Danish patent publication 121398, concerning a cushionwith a fill of small rounded plastic particles and a soft cover of agauze-like material. Furthermore, from German laid-open publication2307938 there is known a sitting pad which consists of a fill of foamedplastic beads or the like with a nylon cover. There is also known fromGerman laid-open publication 2311054 a similar cushion which has a coverof a fabric material. These solutions, however, provide a mattress,which can of course be folded to form a sitting pad or also a supportpad, but thereby giving a layered division of the sitting, sleeping orsupport pad which provides characteristics different to the solution inthe present invention with regard to forming ability and the ability toadapt to a user's anatomy and the shape of the ground. Moreover, thesehave a different structural design in relation to the object of theinvention.

Furthermore, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,844, there are described supportcushions which are assembled to form a sitting, sleeping or support pad.The pads are made of a flexible material with a chamber or cavity whichis filled to approximately 50% of its maximum normal volume withrelatively small expanded polystyrene bits. When the cushions are laidin a row they will form a sleeping pad, and by folding this a kind ofsitting or support pad can be obtained, which will also be capable ofproviding the required sitting height above the ground. However, the padis divided into chambers as it consists of individual cushions which areplaced in an outer cover. Even though the degree of fill of eachindividual pad is around 50% of the cushion's volume, the distributionin the pad will be restricted by the fact that each chamber in the padis given an amount of fill material and the distribution of the fill inthe pad will not be able to deviate from this. Thus, it is not possibleto collect all of the fill in specific parts of the pad.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention an outer bag and an inner bag are employed,where the outer bag has an elongated substantially rectangular shape andcontains a fill material, and where the outer bag has a first and asecond side with a substantially similar shape to the inner bag. The padis characterized in that between the outer bag's first and second sides,at least in a part of the bag's length, against one of the outer bag'sshort sides, there is provided an intermediate piece and on the saidshort side of the outer bag an end portion is formed between the firstand the second sides. The intermediate piece on the outer bag's saidshort side provides a wedge-shaped increasing distance between the firstand second sides, changing into an enlarged end portion along the shortside. The fill material is selected from a group consisting of materialin pellet or powder form. In a preferred embodiment the degree of fillin the inner bag is preferably less than 60%, but according to thedesign of the outer bag this degree of fill may be higher or lower than50%. In a preferred embodiment the fill in the inner bag is in globularform, but may also be pellets, coarse powder, bits and variously shapedpieces of a preferably solid material. The fill may be made, forexample, of polystyrene foam bits, foam rubber or the like, so that theyare preferably stable with regard to shape and the shape of the pad isthereby dependent on how the fill is placed in the inner bag and how itis placed in the outer bag.

The material in the inner bag is preferably elastic, with the resultthat it expands when the contents, i.e., the fill in the inner bag, arecompacted at one end of the bag.

The outer bag has a form which gives special characteristics inco-operation with the elastic inner bag and the fill therein. The outerbag has an elongated, substantially rectangular form and has an enlargedarea between the first and second surfaces on at least one of the outerbag's short sides. This enlarged area can be used when the pad has to beused as a sitting pad where it is desirable to give the user a sittingposition at a height above the ground. The enlarged area on at least oneshort side of the outer bag forms a “bottom part” in this case. Thestable sitting shape is achieved particularly on account of theco-operation between the outer bag and the inner bag, especially in thearea of an enlarged area.

The enlarged bottom area can be achieved in several ways, a preferredform being that the intermediate piece between the first and secondsides has an approximately wedge-shaped transition along the side, tothe bottom area at one of the short sides of the outer bag. It ispossible to form sew the first and second surfaces in such a way thatthey can change into an enlarged bottom portion. This, however, shouldbe considered to be analogous with the above-mentioned solution withrespect to the scope of the attached patent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The sitting, sleeping or support pad according to the presentapplication will be described in more detail below in relation to theaccompanying drawing figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the object of the invention with the oneenlarged end piece;

FIG. 2 is a view from above of an embodiment of the object of theinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates the object of the invention folded up for transportor use as a sitting/support pad, with a slim shape;

FIG. 4 illustrates the object of the invention in folded form with athicker profile in the end of the outer bag with the enlarged endportion, where the object of the invention can be used as a sitting padwhich raises the user from ground level.

In FIG. 1 an embodiment of the object of the invention is viewed inperspective. The pad 1 consists of a first side 2 and a second side 3which are joined along their outer edges by an intermediate piece 6. Thepad 1 is substantially rectangular in shape, and in the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 1 the rectangular shape is slightly narrowedapproximately halfway between the short sides of the pad 1. This,however, is only one embodiment and the pad 1 may just as well have acompletely rectangular shape. In the embodiment, moreover, the cornersare slightly rounded. On one of the short sides of the pad 1 theintermediate area 6 is increasing in width which gives a wedge-shapedpiece, providing an increasing distance between the first side and thesecond side against one of the outer bag's short-sided end portions 4.If the first side 2 and the second side 3 are joined directly alongtheir outer edges, the piece 4 will be wedge-shaped and arranged in sucha manner that the distance between the first side 2 and the second side3 is increasing towards one of the short sides of the pad 1.

FIG. 2 is a view from above illustrating how the pad 1 has anapproximately rectangular shape with slightly narrowing areas round thelugs 5. The lugs 5 are intended for attachment of a carrying strap orthe like. This is only in order to improve the user characteristics bymaking the pad 1 more portable. In addition the outer bag of the pad 1has at least one opening 7 which permits the inner bag to be withdrawnfrom the outer bag for cleaning etc. of the outer bag as well as theinner bag.

When the pad 1 has to be used as a sitting pad, one takes hold of theshort side of the pad 1 which is opposite the area 4 and places the pad1 on its edge with its short side 4 facing downwards. The fill in theinner bag is then moved to the lower area of the outer bag and onaccount of the surrounding elastic material in the inner bag in thepreferred embodiment, this can then be formed into an oval cylindricalshape inside the outer bag. The size of the inner bag is adapted in sucha way that when the fill is packed together in the inner bag, the innerbag is pressed against the inside of the outer bag and the enlarged endportion 4 forms a surface on which the pad 1 stands. A user can now sitdown on this and be sitting at a height above the ground. The height isadjusted by how much fill is collected in the “lower” part of the innerbag.,

In FIG. 3, an embodiment of the pad 1 is placed on edge with theenlarged end piece 4 against the ground. Since the inner bag's degree offill in the preferred embodiment is less than 50%, it will be possibleto collect the fill material in less than half of the outer bag'svolume. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the result is that the outer bag 1“folds” at the middle approximately at the lugs 5, and by distributingthe fill in the half of the outer bag where the enlarged piece 4 islocated, it will be possible to obtain a stable, tall shape where thehalf of the outer bag 1 which no longer contains the bulk of the fillhangs down beside the lower part of the outer bag 1.

In FIG. 4 the contents of the inner bag are further compressed and itcan be seen that the sides 2 and 3 have a slightly curved shape towardsthe end piece 4. It can also be clearly seen in FIG. 4 that the half ofthe pad 1, which is empty of fill, is hanging down to the left of thefigure. By compacting fill in one half of the pad 1 and by means ofco-operation between the elastic inner bag and the outer bag with astable shape and enlarged end area 4, it is possible to obtain a tall,standing bag which can be a sitting pad which raises the user fromground level.

The pad can also be used as a sleeping pad by distributing fill in theinner bag through the whole or most of the inner bag. Due to itsrectangular shape it will be possible to distribute the inner bag inmost of the outer bag, whereupon the outer bag with an evenlydistributed inner bag and the fill therein will constitute a comfortableand insulating mattress/sleeping pad for a user. Due to the inner bag'selastic design in a preferred embodiment, the bag will be able tocounteract rough ground and the fill in the inner bag will thus bedistributed in such a manner that the pad assumes a relatively levelposition which gives the user a high degree of comfort.

If one wishes a flat or almost flat sitting pad, e.g., for use on dampground or the like, parts of the outer bag can be folded away after thefill is distributed in the second part of the outer bag, thus enabling adesired thickness to be obtained for the pad on which one will sit. Herethe fill will also be distributed in the interior of the bag and throughthe interplay between the outer bag with a stable shape, the elasticinner bag and the globular, powdered or granulated fill, a sitting“cushion” will be obtained which provides the desired thickness andthereby insulation and comfort.

Similarly the pad 1 can be shaped in various ways in order to providesupport in different situations. If one is sitting on guard when huntingit will be possible to gather the fill at the end of the outer bag whichgives an insulating pad on which to sit, and the empty part of the outerbag can be placed against a tree trunk or the like, providing a backsupport. Thus the full length and rectangular shape of the bag have beenutilized to obtain a high degree of sitting comfort. By distributing thefill, the desired degree of insulation and sitting comfort can beachieved, while the outer bag will be able to provide insulation andsitting comfort, e.g., for the back, elbow, etc.

The pad 1 according to the invention will be capable of having a numberof areas of application and in connection with a maritime environmentwill represent a long desired combination, providing comfort whensitting and the necessary sitting height, e.g. in the cockpit of asailing boat, while at the same time it can be used as a sleeping pad ondeck or skerries and in the same way it can be used for support, e.g.when stacking luggage in the cockpit or the like. This is particularlydue to the pad's shape conforming properties and stable design withregard to shape. In a maritime environment the pad will also be able tobe used as a lifebuoy if the fill in the inner bag is of such a naturethat it does not absorb water and provides sufficient buoyancy, whichwill usually be the case.

The figures illustrate a possible embodiment of the pad according to theinvention but they should not be considered to be limiting in relationto the design I and dimensions of the pad. The object of the inventioncan be used in almost any situation where a sitting, sleeping or supportpad is required and with its ability to be shaped and stablecharacteristics with regard to shape will combine several features toprovide a solution which satisfies requirements which at present arecovered by several different objects.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sitting, sleeping or support pad, comprising:an outer bag including first and second sides having a substantiallyrectangular shape to define an outer bag length between outer bag endsof a width less than the outer bag length, and an intermediate pieceextending between the first and second sides over at least a part of theouter bag length and throughout at least one outer bag end, theintermediate piece widening toward the at least one outer bag end toprovide a wedge-shaped configuration enlarging from a mid portion of thefirst and second sides to an enlarged end portion along the at least oneouter bag end; and at least one inner bag containing a particulateelastic fill material, disposed in the outer bag, and having a size andshape to fit within the outer bag, the inner bag having a degree of fillto permit the reshaping of the pad between sitting, sleeping andsupporting applications.
 2. The sitting, sleeping or support pad ofclaim 1, wherein the fill material is selected from a group consistingof materials in pellet or powder form.
 3. The sitting, sleeping orsupport pad of any one of claim 1 or 2, wherein the inner bag has adegree of fill less than 60%.
 4. The sitting, sleeping or support pad ofclaim 3, wherein the inner bag has a degree of fill less than 45%. 5.The sitting, sleeping or support pad of claim 1, wherein the outer bagis designed with at least one pocket.
 6. The sitting, sleeping orsupport pad of claim 1, wherein the outer bag includes fastenings in acentral portion thereof for a carrying harness/carrying strap.
 7. Thesitting, sleeping or support pad of claim 1, wherein the intermediatepiece is formed by form sewing of the first and second sides.
 8. Thesitting, sleeping or support pad of claim 1, wherein the outer bag hasat least one opening for removal and insertion of the inner bag.